Runaway asylum seeker Ludim Morega denied using his schoolgirl lover in a bid to get a British passport.

Morega told Newcastle Crown Court he had genuine feelings for the 15-year-old and still wanted to see her.

And he claimed he stopped having sex with her as soon as he discovered she was under age.

Morega, also known as Ascan Omanov, said: "She told me she was in the last year of secondary school and in my country that means 17 years old."

He claimed he only learned her true age when police alerted by the girl's anxious parents found her at his flat in Wellington Road, Dunston, and arrested him on suspicion of indecent assault.

Morega who said he had made up the Omanov alias, lied that he was 30, and pretended to be from war-torn Chechanya when he arrived in Britain last year claimed he met the girl again when she rang his mobile.

She told him that she was running away and she would kill herself if he didn't go with her, he claimed.

"I was afraid she would do it," Morega told the jury. "So I decided to go with her."

The runaways took a coach to London on July 17 last year and for the next 10 days slept rough in a park before police tracked them down. The girl's frantic parents had issued national appeals for help.

Morega said: "I would still like to see her. I know it is strange for you, and for someone from outside. She wants to see me as well, I know that."

He claimed his real age was 22 and although he said he was Jewish he still refused to name his homeland.

He said he had been told to lie about his background when he came to the UK and immigration officials would be more sympathetic if he pretended he was from a war zone.

Morega, who said he travelled to Britain from Italy, had been receiving a #42 a week grant while his application for asylum was investigated.

He denies unlawful sexual intercourse and child abduction. The schoolgirl, now back with her parents, cannot be identified for legal reasons.